With my aforementioned goal to ditch my phone when outside the house and use the watch for as much as possible, I am compiling a list of all of the Apps that I’m using that meet my current needs, and noting gaps where they exist. The configuration I use is a 42mm Stainless Steel Apple Watch Series 3 with LTE enabled and AirPods connected.

Criteria for an Apps usability is based on three criteria:

(Create) Can create items on Watch

(Modify) Can modify (including delete) items on Watch

(Sync) Can sync new/changed items to Cloud via LTE

In addition on the Watch there are three primary methods of data input:

(Siri) Siri voice dictation (speech-to-text)

(Num) Numeric Keypad (where applicable)

(Scr) Scribble finger drawn letters, one by one, on the watch screen

The following table list listed in order of Apple native apps first (denoted with an asterisk *), followed by installed third party apps, followed by notification-initiated interactions with apps not physically installed on the watch.

Function

App

Create

Modify

Sync

Notes

EMail

Mail*

Y

Y

Sometimes

Exchange/GMail (non-Apple) EMail generally works but not consistently. Read items don’t reliably sync their read marker status with the Cloud. Moved my work EMail across until Outlook gets LTE capability.

Music

Music*

N

N

N

Synced playlist music only, with streaming (coming in watchOS 4.1). Possible to add music to a playlist via the iPhone.

Locating

Find My Friends*

N

N

N/A

Shows map, photos, names, distances but the map sometimes doesn’t load. Huge update and pleasantly surprised how well it works

Messaging

iMessage*

Y

N

Y

Emotional reactions, replies, scribble, Siri dictation

Navigation

Maps*

Y

N/A

N/A

Siri can create new navigation requests, provides Turn-by-Turn Steps, Location on Map. No Live Map Navigation, but this is an understandable restriction given GPS and screen power drain.

Digital Wallet

Apple Pay*

Y

N/A

N/A

Per Series 0, 1 and 2 it works without any wireless connectivity by design

Appointments

Calendar*

Y (Siri)

Y (Delete only)

Y

Previously used Fantastical due to its configurability however creating Reminders/Events via Fantastical (Siri only) didn’t work over LTE. Can’t use Scribble to create appointments. Can’t modify appointment times on Watch, though can delete.

Calls

Phone*

Y (Siri/Num)

N/A

N/A

Works via Speaker or either/both AirPods. Possible to pick up calls with AirPods even if they aren’t in your ear when the call comes in.

Weather

Weather*

N

N

N/A

Locations have to be configured on iPhone first. Previous favourite apps were BeWeather, Rain Parrot, and Weather AU but none work on LTE. Still no app that shows the radar map on the watch that works in Australia. Dark Sky doesn’t work here. Alas.

Reminders

Reminders*

Y (Siri)

N

Y

Can only create using Siri not via app. Can not modify anything once created and always put in Default reminder list.

Web Search

Siri*

N

N

N/A

Only basic Siri answers are possible via the Watch. As there is no browser on the watch, there’s no mechanism to get detailed search results returned to the Watch, and you’re directed to the iPhone. On-watch functionality works over LTE (setting timers, music playback etc)

Calculator

PCalc

Y

Y

N/A

Never required iPhone other than to configure.

Podcasts

WatchPlayer

N

Y (Delete)

N

Sometimes loses its place between listens, Syncing episodes is annoying. Previously used Overcast but for the moment the Watch playback functionality is being worked on by its developer.

Passwords

1Password

N

N

N/A

Doesn’t use data connection. Can’t create logins on the Watch, not sure I want to anyway. Need to set up on the phone first

Digital Wallet

Stocard

N

N

N/A

Doesn’t use data connection. Can’t create cards on the Watch though could be a useful feature provided no photo is needed. Need to set up on the phone first.

Sleep Tracking

Autosleep

N

N

N/A

Provides basic report of sleep duration, but requires iPhone to perform sleep analysis. Limited to showing last night, as well as 7 day average.

Notetaking

Drafts

Y (Siri/Scr)

Y (Siri/Scr)

N

Syncs to iPhone only when in range, however there is no other note-taking app on the Watch as a first-party app and Drafts works well in that respect, except for Cloud sync.

Voice Recording

Just Press Record

Y

Y (Delete)

N/A

Records audio notes quickly and easily and allows playback via the speaker or AirPods. Only syncs with iPhone when in range.

What’s The Song?

Shazam

Y

N

N

Can’t ask Siri to identify what song is playing on the Watch, but Shazam works perfectly and more discretely. Syncs the list of Shazam’d songs when iPhone is in range.

Twitter

Tweetbot (Not On Watch)

N/A

N/A

N/A

Notifications from Tweetbot allow basic reactions like Favouriting and Retweeting.

Biggest misses for me at the moment:

Reminders isn’t a good To Do app, and I can’t wait for Things (or similar) to support could sync but knowing they rolled their own Cloud sync this may not happen for a while (if ever)

Inability to modify anything about a Reminder or Calendar appointment

Composing a basic tweet, mention or direct message not possible (same for Mastodon)

Notes absent; even a stripped down text-only version would be fine

With time, developers will update their apps to use direct data interaction with servers rather than via the paired iPhone so the list of third-party apps should get much longer in due course. I’ll endeavour to update this list every few weeks or if a major app update is released.

I’ve always loved my Apple Watch. When Apple announced LTE in the Series 3 I was initially disappointed that they hadn’t given us always on screens, but also shocked that they’d managed to get energy efficient LTE into the device at all without killing the battery in 5 seconds flat. Truly impressive. Without going into the details of how I’ve routed what to where (it’s convoluted trust me) I’ve upgraded from my 42mm Silver Stainless Steel Series 2 to the equivalent Series 3 model earlier this week, and also linked it to an iPhone.

My goal: ditch my phone when outside the house and use the watch for as much as possible.

An Apple Watch paired with AirPods (or even a single AirPod) is already lighter and more convenient than a phone for phone calls since it’s more discrete and less intrusive. I’ve made phone calls both on AirPods and the speaker and they’re both passable though the AirPods are better, you could live without AirPods in a pinch. In which case, you’ve got a fully waterproof phone on your wrist that you can’t lose, is harder to break/scratch/damage, and with the sound off is totally silent when notifications come through your wrist.

I thought at length over the past month since the announcement about what I use my phone for, exactly. It’s a longer list than I initially thought, but I use my iPhone for:

Taking photos (less these days since I bought a DSLR)

To Do Lists (Things 2 was my favourite)

EMail (Outlook for work, Spark for TEN, Apple Mail for Personal)

Music (Apple Music)

Find My Friends

iMessage

Navigation (Sygic/Apple Maps)

Passwords (1Password)

Stocard (Wallet reduction)

Apple Pay

Social media (Facebook/Twitter/Mastodon)

Autosleep (Sleep Tracking)

Checking the Weather (BeWeather, Rain Parrot, Weather AU)

Calendar Appointments (Calendar/Fantastical/Outlook)

Playing Podcasts (Overcast)

Notetaking (Notes)

Surfing the Web (Safari)

Making/Receiving Phone calls

Checking Bank Balances

Calculator

Light

That’s it. Not a trivial amount, for sure.

Of the above, I can do all of those items now, using the Apple Watch on LTE with no phone nearby, except:

Checking Bank Balances (rare thing but could get annoying)

Social Media (have stopped using it anyway)

Outlook for work (I still get the notifications though, so that’s fine and my work calendar is mapped to Calendar for Fantastical anyway)

Spark Mail (Will migrate to Mail)

Things (migrated already to Reminders)

Playing Podcasts (Reluctantly moving to WatchPlayer, but it works okay)

With time, developers will update their apps to use direct data interaction with servers rather than via the paired iPhone so that list should get shorter in due course.

The main idea here is that at work I’ve gone full iPad Pro anyway, and I’ll have that with me on work days and at home. When I’m out on personal errands I won’t have it, but under those circumstances, the ONLY thing that I’ll miss is web searching, and Siri can help with a small number of those searches, but that’s really the only big hole.

There are other niggly-holes though like having to abandon Overcast for podcast playback, but I know its developer (Marco Arment) is working hard on a solution as we speak (so to speak). Preparing to listen to podcasts now must be done ahead of time, preloaded, and transfer them to the Watch over WiFi (not Bluetooth) unless you’re a masochist and it works okay. (Podcast spontaneity will be on hold for now)

I had to add each song in Apple Music to a monster playlist to force it all onto my Watch but that works fine now and the 16Gb of storage is enough for the vast majority of my music collection I’d want to listen to regularly. It’s easy to add songs via my iPad and it will sync up when I get home plus WatchOS 4.1 will bring streaming to the Watch which will be very nice as well.

I realise that Apple isn’t trying to make the smartphone obsolete, and I and many others are going to use the watch as a standalone device when that’s not really its intent. But really, if it’s going to work for practically everything I need, I’ll leave my iPhone at home, plugged in and just use my Watch for everything else. In time the Watch won’t be tethered to a phone anymore, and apps will all communicate directly to servers rather than via a proxy system. At which point I probably won’t bother with a phone, but that’s probably a few more years away - and that’s okay.

I’m not the first nor will I be the last person to try this, but this is going to be a fun experiment. Let’s see how it turns out…

Today, Vic Hudson, Clay Daly and I are launching a new podcast called BubbleSort. Vic has been my most regular co-host on Pragmatic over the past four years and also hosted the wonderful App Story Podcast for 14 episodes in 2014/2015. Clay Daly is one of the hosts of the wonderful Cybrcast which has been running since 2014.

We all wanted to catch up to discuss what’s happening in the world of technology in a medium that was better than Twitter, Mastodon or Facebook and it turns out you can talk on Skype, press record and share it with anyone else that’s interested and you have a podcast. (Okay, maybe trim out some bits and pieces in post…)

Bubblesort is not part of TechDistortion nor part of TEN. It is its own standalone collaborative effort. We’re not trying to take the world by storm, we’re not trying to make money. We’re doing it because it’s fun, and if we’re having fun, maybe you will too.

My thanks to Vic for tackling the audio editing and musical score, to Clay for developing the artwork and to both of my co-hosts for making time in their busy schedules to catch up every two weeks or so to make a thoroughly fun and relaxing podcast.